On its third proper full-length and first for new label TVT, Texas supergroup -- in numbers, that is -- Polyphonic Spree, the only rock roll band to boast a full size choir as part of its recording and touring incarnations, ditch the robes in favor of black military style outfits with red crosses stitched properly into place and displayed prominently. Director Mike Mills named the album. The PS's frontman and chief composer Tim DeLaughter scored his debut feature film Thumbsucker for the indie big screen (after the death of its original composer Elliott Smith). Musically, The Fragile Army is both a return to tried and true methods and simultaneously, a departure. The enormous sound of the PS, with its tightly structured compositions by DeLaughter and Julie Doyle hasn't changed that much. One can hear elements of every big rock production band from the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev to David Bowie in its sonic mix. And PS's trademark sunshine-drenched pop symphonica hasn't disappeared, or even taken a hiatus. It's here. What's new is a more textured melancholy in the darker, or at least sadder-themed songs that appeared first on the group's Wait EP earlier in 2007. There is equal weight given to both.

1		Together We're Heavy
2		Running Away
3		Get Up and Go
4		The Fragile Army
5		Younger Yesterday
6		We Crawl
7		Mental Cabaret
8		Guaranteed Nightlite
9		Light to Follow
10		Watch Us Explode (Justify)
11		Overblow Your Nest
12		The Championship